Who has not the Church for mother can no longer have God for father.
~ Cyprian, in On the Unity of the Catholic Church
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A Hymn of Clement of Alexandria
“Shepherd of tender youth, guiding in love and truth
Through devious ways: Christ, our triumphant King,
We come Thy Name to sing;
Hither our children bring, to shout Thy praise.”
“Thou art our holy Lord, the all-subduing Word,
Healer of strife: Thou didst thyself abase,
That from sin’s deep disgrace,
Thou mightest save our race, and give us life.”
“So now and till we die, sound we Thy praises high,
And joyful sing: infants, and the glad throng,
Who to Thy church belong,
Unite to swell the song to Christ our King. Amen.”
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Tertullian – select quotes
I believe because it is absurd. God’s Son has died. That is credible because it is foolishness. And He was
buried and is risen. That is certain because it is impossible.
If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky does not move, or the earth does, if there is famine, if there is plague, the cry is at once, “The Christians to the lions.”
The first reaction to truth is hatred.
What then has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What has the academy to do with the church? What have heretics to do with Christians? Our instruction is from the porch of Solomon who himself handed down that the Lord is to be sought in simplicity of heart. Away with those who produce Stoic, Platonic, and Dialectic Christianity. We have no need of curiosity after we have Christianity, nor of inquisitiveness after we have the Gospel. Since we believe we desire nothing else to believe. For the first thing we believe is that there is nothing else we ought to believe.
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A Prayer of Polycarp
“Thou God and Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have received knowledge of Thee, O God of the angels and of all creation and of all just men who live in Thy presence, I thank Thee that Thou hast graciously granted me a portion among Thy people, among the people of Christ. Unto the resurrection of everlasting life may I be received in Thy sight as a fruitful and acceptable sacrifice. Wherefore, for all this I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee through the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ Thy beloved Son to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit be all glory, world without end. Amen.”
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A Prayer of Clement of Rome
“Grant unto us, Lord, that we may set our hope on Thy name…and open the eyes of our hearts, that we may know Thee.”
“We beseech Thee, Lord and Master, to be our help and succour. Save those among us who are in tribulation; have mercy on the lowly; lift up the fallen; show Thyself to those in need; heal the sick; turn again the wanderers of Thy people; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the weak; comfort the faint-hearted. Let all nations know that Thou art God alone, and that Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and that we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture.”
“We praise Thee who art able to do these and better things than these, through Jesus Christ the High Priest and Guardian of our souls, through whom be glory and majesty to Thee, both now and
throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”
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